Michael Schumacher suffered a ski accident in the French Alps Dec 29 last year, which left him brain damaged and fighting for his life.

Legendary Formula One Michael Schumacher is paralysed and in a wheelchair, who cannot speak and has memory problems, former racing driver Philippe Streiff said on Wednesday. (Also read: Jules Bianchi out of coma, back in France)

"He is getting better but everything is relative. It's very difficult. He can't speak. Like me, he is in a wheelchair paralysed. He has memory problems and speech problems," Streiff, a good friend of Schumacher, was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.

Streiff is himself wheelchair-bound after suffering a crash in Brazil during pre-season tests in 1989.

The 45-year-old Schumacher suffered a ski accident in the French Alps Dec 29 last year, which left him brain damaged and fighting for his life.

The seven-time champion was transferred to Lausanne Hospital, Switzerland, in June this year and he is now being cared for at his home on the shores of Lake Geneva.